"The financial help from POE is amazing, but the greatest thing about POE is their mentoring. My parents do not have an understanding of what I am going through right now, so it was such a relief to be able to talk to someone that has experience in what I am going through."

“All throughout high school, I worked endlessly with my parents at their restaurant - 30 hours a week during school and about 70 hours over the summer and during breaks. I never allowed that to interfere with my pursuit of a higher education. I knew since my freshman year at Woodside High School that my family did not have the financial resources to send me to a 4 year university. I also did not have the moral support or encouragement from my family to allow me to excel in college. That all changed because of POE.

I was able to attend the University of California Santa Cruz as an undergraduate majoring in Business Management Economics. POE allowed me to focus on my studies instead of working a job to pay for college. With that, I have a cumulative GPA of 3.82, but my major GPA is 4.0. Because of POE, I had more time to look at internship opportunities. Currently, I am the internal audit intern at Plantronics. I also have a job for post-graduation at KPMG, all thanks to POE.

The financial help from POE is amazing, but the greatest thing about POE is their mentoring. My mentor is one of the reasons why I have been so successful at my university. My mentor is able to give me advice on the real world. My parents do not have an understanding of what I am going through right now, so it was such a relief to be able to talk to someone that has experience in what I am going through. I can honestly say that I consider my mentor to be a big brother to me, sometimes even another father figure. I can rely on my mentor to be there when I have a question or when I need advice. I am comfortable talking to my mentor and our relationship is outstanding. Thank you POE.”